Fischoff final exam for Notre Dame piano trio

SOUTH BEND Â? Final exams are done at the University of Notre Dame, but three seniors have one more test to take this semester.

Nicholas Shaneyfelt, Audrey Marier and Monica Regnier compete today in the first round of the senior strings division of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association Competition.

Win or lose, the pianist, violinist and cellist known as the Nora Trio have already made history: In FischoffÂ?s 35-year existence, theyÂ?re the first Notre Dame-based ensemble to make the cut into the senior quarter-finals for the competition, which has called the university home since 2002.

Â?We made an audition DVD with no expectations of being accepted,Â? Shaneyfelt says. Â?It started out with no expectations, and once we felt comfortable with each other, it felt good, and I think our professors felt good with what they heard.Â?

The trio formed last April under the name Mansard Trio in honor of the original type of roof on Crowley Hall, the campusÂ?s music building. That name, however, didnÂ?t work for the three students.

Â?If you go on YouTube and type in Â?Nora,Â? youÂ?ll see a piano-playing cat,Â? Shaneyfelt says. Â?ThatÂ?s how we got our name. I think we tried to make it sound more academic by finding the origin of Â?Nora,Â? which is Â?bright one.Â? Â?

For Fischoff, Nora has learned piano trio pieces by Franz Joseph Haydn, Bedrich Smetana and Frank Bridge. The jurors for the competition will select 20 minutes from that repertoire for the trio to perform today, and if they make it to SaturdayÂ?s semifinals, the musicians will choose which piece theyÂ?ll play.

Â?The (Haydn) sounds simple; it sounds much more sparse than the other pieces because itÂ?s early, but it has all the emotion as the other pieces, but itÂ?s more subtle,Â? Marier says. Â?The Smetana is much more rigorous, kind of loud and boisterous. ItÂ?s very Czechoslovakian. It opens with a gypsy theme and has folk melodies in it that are particular to Smetana and Czechoslovakia.Â?

BridgeÂ?s Â?Fantasy,Â? Shaneyfelt and Marier say, reminds them of film music.

Â?The Bridge is very Romantic,Â? she says. Â?It has all these different kinds of characters laced through it. WeÂ?ve come up with a narrative to go along with it.Â?

Of the 11 other ensembles in the senior strings division, six also are piano trios. Fischoff executive director Ann Devine thinks the competition received more applications from piano trios this year because a piano trio, the Prima Trio, won the 2007 Grand Prize.

Â?The strings have really evened out between string quartets and piano trios,Â? she says.

All but two of the 24 ensembles in the senior division are affiliated with a university or conservatory. For strings and winds overall, Devine says, the senior division also has polarized itself geographically. The Nora Trio is one of only a few from the Midwest, while the majority of the competitors are from Texas, California, New York and New England.

Â?That seems strange to me, especially with the cost of travel and with young people, because that must have some effect on their ability to get here,Â? she says, Â?but itÂ?s either coast this year.Â?

Their trio, Shaneyfelt and Marier say, has Â?a little bit of a home field advantageÂ? by competing at Notre Dame, although she adds that Â?thereÂ?s a little more pressure,Â? too, because Nora is Notre DameÂ?s first senior entrant at Fischoff.

Â?If anything, weÂ?re familiar with the Leighton (Concert Hall),Â? he says. Â?IÂ?m used to the instrument in there, which is extremely important, and IÂ?m used to the acoustics in there. I think itÂ?s nice to have a home crowd.Â?

Of course, Shaneyfelt says, theyÂ?ve encouraged their friends who will be on campus for senior week to attend their performances, but with a word of caution, too.

Â?WeÂ?re also trying to protect our anonymity,Â? he says. Â?WeÂ?re telling our friends that if they come, to be a silent support.Â?

Forming and maintaining a trio, Marier says, has entailed Â?many, many, many hours of rehearsal and coaching and bondingÂ? for the three students and their professors. They also took master-class instruction from the Fry Street Quartet and pianist Gilbert Kalish while those performers were on campus for concerts at the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts, where Fischoff also is held.

Â?I think with Fischoff, at least working toward going to the Fischoff, weÂ?ve been rehearsing probably a lot more than the standard ensemble would at Notre Dame,Â? she says. Â?WeÂ?ve just become really good friends. I think thatÂ?s the best part of having our ensemble. WeÂ?ve spent all this time together and perhaps not feel the pressure other people might.Â?

A native of Knightstown, Ind., Shaneyfelt is a double major in music and computer science, while Marier is a double major in music and graphic design from Pendleton, Ore., and Regnier is a double major in music and architecture from Plymouth, Minn. Both Shaneyfelt and Marier will be fifth-year seniors in the fall, while Regnier will graduate as a fifth-year senior on May 17 and move to Washington, D.C., to start her career as an architect.

Â?For the three of us, itÂ?s just a validation of the hard work weÂ?ve put in,Â? Shaneyfelt says. Â?Who knew we would have come to this point? I didnÂ?t come to Notre Dame thinking my trio would do the Fischoff and my trio would be one of the top 12 to make it.Â?

ItÂ?s also an Â?honor,Â? he says, to be Notre DameÂ?s first representative at Fischoff.

Â?ThatÂ?s a really cool feeling, to be pioneers, at least here in Notre DameÂ?s music department,Â? the pianist says. Â?I think weÂ?re setting the stage. I think thereÂ?s another piano trio thatÂ?s formed and has set its sights on Fischoff. I hope that will raise the profile of our program because we have excellent faculty and students.Â?